German Offenlegungsschrift 3,331,620 discloses an implantable plug-in connection which comprises a plug element and a coupling element and which serves as a means for connection to an implanted medical instrument. This connection has a receptacle with a housing and a coupling which is compression-molded from plastic and is integral with the said housing. Connected to the coupling are the plug elements, to which the electrode leads are connected. The coupling has a plurality of electric terminal parts and an opening for receiving a fastening screw, by which the plug element can be fastened to the coupling.
The space requirement and weight of this plug-in connection is very high because of the number of components. Therefore, major surgery is necessary to introduce or attach these plug-in connections. In addition, the implanted plug-in connection gives the person carrying or having an unpleasant and distressful feeling. Added to this is the fact that the known plug-in connection can trigger off rejection reactions in the body.
It is also known in the prior art to supply electrical power to implanted medical instruments, such as for example cardiac catheters, via an electric supply lead which extends out of the body, and to receive measured electric signals via this supply lead. For this purpose, the supply lead end protruding out of the body is provided with a plug (male connector) or a coupling (female connector). Since the plugs or couplings used up until now are relatively heavy and large, there is the permanent risk of the patient becoming caught by the plug or the coupling and tearing open the incision in the skin through which the supply lead protrudes. Since the supply lead is not fastened on the skin of the patient, for example a test animal, it can happen furthermore that a tensile force exerted on the supply lead causes the cardiac catheter to be pulled out of its position, so that precise measurements are no longer possible and there is a risk of injury. In addition, with virtually every movement of the patient there is a relative movement between skin and supply lead. Due to the constant friction caused as a result, the incision in the skin cannot heal.